Monthly Archives: January 2017

The City of Surprise Fiscal Year 2018 budget-building process begins at the City Council’s Work Session, 4 p.m., Tuesday, February 7.

This is the first in a series of presentations regarding the overall development of the budget. This presentation will give a general overview of the city’s budget and review the calendar for the upcoming process. Emphasis will be placed on the areas of policy making that the City Council has available to impact the FY2018 budget.

The presentation will also discuss outside issues that will influence the outcomes of the budget process.

Future Council Work Sessions and Regular Meetings will include additional presentations related to budget development, including topics on Capital Improvement Projects and continued operating budget discussions.

This process will result in the adoption of a balanced FY2018 budget in June. FY2018 begins July 1, 2017.

Council agendas are posted online at http://agenda.surpriseaz.gov/ at least two business days before the meeting. City Council meets the first and third Tuesdays of each month. Work Sessions are at 4 p.m. and Regular Meetings begin at 6 p.m. All meetings are carried live on Surprise TV for cable customers and streamed online at www.surpriseaz.gov/surpriseTV.

With a state engineer on board, design work is underway on the transformation of Bullard Avenue, between Greenway Road and Peoria Avenue, city staff informed the Bullard Avenue Task Force, Thursday evening.

Per task force recommendation, this stretch of Bullard Avenue will be restored to two travel lanes in each direction, while maintaining the 35 mile-per-hour speed limit. Traffic signals will also be added at the Acoma and Sweetwater intersections, to complement existing crosswalks.

With five schools located in the area and more than 600 students crossing Bullard during the school year, the city secured $1.7 million in federal grant money, including a $500,000 city match, for a total of $2.2 million to fund safety improvements. As a federally-funded project, it must be administered through the Arizona Department of Transportation (ADOT).

Bike lanes and cycle tracks (safety buffers), along with landscaping are included in the project.

Design and drainage plan drafts and an environmental assessment are expected to be completed this summer. Final reports are scheduled for completion this fall. The project bid is expected to be advertised in early 2018, with construction planned for May 2018 – October 2018. The previously announced tentative construction start date of late 2017 was pushed back to allow for the selection of a project engineer and for securing additional grant money to cover the costs of installing a landscaped median.

The Surprise City Council selected District 6 Councilmember Todd Tande to serve as Vice Mayor at their regular meeting Tuesday night.

Per city code, City Council must select a new Vice Mayor to serve on an annual basis no later than January 30. The Vice Mayor acts on behalf of the Mayor in the event of absence.

Tande was elected to City Council in the August 2013 election to serve an extended five-year term beginning January 2014.

He spent his early career in the private sector with many years in the theme park and aerospace and defense industries. Prior to serving on the Surprise City Council, Tande held previous public service roles in California and Indiana. He is also a licensed Realtor.

Tande serves on the Board of Directors and as Sr. Executive Vice President, and co-founder of Education Connection Solutions, LLC., a management consulting firm. He also serves as Vice Chairman of the Board of Directors for the Navajo Mission and School in Rock Point, Arizona, and is a member of the Maricopa Association of Governments (MAG) Human Services and Community Initiatives Committee.

He received his Bachelor of Science degree in Management and his MBA from California State Polytechnic University, Pomona, California.

Event date: February 22, 2018 Event Time: 06:00 PM - 08:00 PMLocation: 13165 N. Autoshow AvenueSurprise, AZ 85388Description:Join Councilmember Patrick Duffy to discuss the issues that are important to you and learn more about what’s happening across the city.

Event date: February 28, 2018 Event Time: 06:00 PM - 07:00 PMLocation: 16418 N Bullard Avenue Surprise, AZ 85374Description:This is a request for a Conditional Use Permit (case FS17-731) to allow for a new Major Vehicle Repair facility in approximately 2.9 acres generally located north of Bell Road and east of Dysart Road.